1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is pyrethroids in combination with selected insecticidal agents for the control of insect pests, particularly those which are of major economic importance to the cotton industry.
2. The Prior Art
Pyrethrin-like compounds (pyrethroids) are known in the chemical art. Many such compounds have been shown to possess insecticidal properties, but most have failed to provide entirely satisfactory insect and/or acarina control. None, to the best of our knowledge, has been entirely satisfactory for the control of the complex of insects which ravage growing cotton plants: and, with few exceptions, all have been subject to extremely rapid degradation to non-toxic substances. This latter property has been recognized as a major deficiency of the pyrethroids. While such compounds have provided excellent knockdown of many insects, rapid degradation of said compounds has resulted in lack of residual insect control even for a few days.
The pyrethroids useful in my invention are described in the R. W. Addor United States Patent Application Ser. No. 550,105, filed Feb. 13, 1975. now U.S Pat. No. 3,966,959.
Heretofore, many conventional insecticidal chemicals have also been employed for the control of insects which ravage growing cotton plants. Many have met with a high degree of acceptance by cotton growers, but virtually all have been found to have their limitations and none has afforded complete protection for the growing cotton plants against the insect complex encountered.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an insecticidal composition which is highly effective for protecting crops, particularly cotton crops, from insect attack.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a chemical composition which contains (1) a pyrethroid compound that is not subject to immediate degradation and (2) a selected phosphate, N-methylcarbamate, chlorinated camphene or chlorinated formamidine insecticide; and it is a further object of this invention that such composition be more effective for controlling certain Lepidopterous, Hemipterous and Coleopterous insects and more effective for protecting important agronomic crops from attack by the insects, than is the pyrethroid alone or the phosphate, carbamate, chlorinated camphene, chlorinated formamidine or mixtures thereof.
Advantageously, the compositions of the invention are useful as contact or stomach posions. They are superior in insecticidal activity or insect repellancy, to the pyrethroid alone or the phosphate, carbamate, chlorinated camphene or chlorinated formamidine insecticides and can be employed as protecting agents for important agronomic crops such as cotton, soybeans, tobacco, cole crops, leafy vegetables, forage crops, corn, snapbeans, and tomatoes.